Karen Comer, Sunshine on Vinegar Street, Allen & Unwin, May 2023, 280 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761180132
In our apartment block
There’s a sign next to the lift.
Out of order. Please use stairs.
Mum groans and her shoulders slump.
Even the lift
doesn’t want us here.
Sunshine on Vinegar Street has been acknowledged on the 2024 CBCA Notable list for Younger Readers. Written in verse with layers of metaphors and symbolism, Sunshine on Vinegar Street is a deep and meaningful read. It covers a diverse range of topics but in particular unique families, friendship, change, bullies and building confidence.
When donor conceived Freya’s dad moves away to Broome, her mum opens a café near the Skipping Girl Vinegar light in Abbotsford, Melbourne. This means moving from her beloved Eltham where her parents’ houses sat side-by-side to the heart of Melbourne. Her mum does her best to get Freya excited about new schools, friends, basketball teams and an apartment with a view. But her new school has too many mean girls – ones who play on the basketball team Freya so desperately wants to fit into. And the apartment has dreaded lifts (that often don’t work).
Verse novels have found their place on children’s reading lists, mostly because they make an accessible read for those that find a chunky novel with dense text overwhelming. Comer uses short sentences and punctuation in patterns to make the text attractive and bounce along the page. Much like a basketball – how incredibly clever! The length of sentences and patterns also highlight Freya’s insecurities as well as her strong moments in an engaging and fun rhythm. Basketball terms and a scoreboard (Freya vs Abbotsford) are scattered throughout chapters which mirror mishaps and wins in Freya’s world.
Slowly, she makes friends – friends with a mouse in her apartment, friends with Audrey the Skipping Girl light next door, friends with the janitor who fixes the lift but understands why she climbs stairs, then school friends who play different sports to her opening Freya’s eyes to other things she might enjoy. Her parents’ relationship plays out in sub-plots as Freya finds her way in her new life.
Readers will find Freya’s world relatable with sports and friendship challenges but will also grasp the use of basketball as a metaphor easily, encouraging them to try something similar with their writing. Sunshine on Vinegar Street is a clever and deep middle-grade fiction read for children seeking accessible novels with a sports theme aged 8+ years.
Reviewed by Stef Gemmill
